Fighting City Hall together sure beats fighting it separately.

The story in the paper the other day was pretty damn sad. A resident had her car stolen, ultimately found it had been abandoned and towed to an impound lot, and couldn't afford the over $400 in towing and storage fees that had accumulated by the time the city sent notice of it to her:

The car was located in the Bailey-Genesee neighborhood Sept. 20, but Sanders said the police never called to let her know.

Notices sent out from the impound lot alerting her that the vehicle had been recovered and could be claimed never made it to her current residence on the 400 block of Cambridge Avenue. The notices, she said, instead went to her old address on Grider Street.

“I haven’t lived on Grider for 2½ years,” she said.

When she moved to Cambridge Avenue, she said, she went to the DMV and updated the address on her driver’s license. No one, she added, told her it was necessary to update the address on her car registration as well.

That was earlier this week. Today's news was infinitely brighter:

Readers called and emailed The News to say they would contribute or pay the entire amount, which initially was more than $400, though the city later cut it in half to give Sanders a break.

By midmorning Thursday, several people had shown up or were headed to the Dart Street impound lot to pay the bill when they learned that an anonymous donor had beat them to the good deed.

The kindness doesn’t stop there.

Area residents want to help pay for the damage that the thief caused to the car’s steering column and have asked that their names and phone numbers be passed along to Sanders, who says she is overwhelmed by the flood of generosity.

“I’m thankful, very thankful,” said Sanders, her voice choked with emotion. “I didn’t expect this.”

From the Southtowns to Batavia, residents stepped up to help Sanders, who had been borrowing a friend’s car to get back and forth to work, sometimes twice a day because she works split shifts.

“I grew up in a family of 11 children, and I know that a little money can go a long way for someone who is struggling with bills,” said Marty Walters, a Derby resident. “I don’t fault anybody for this. It’s the car thief who stole her freedom.”

After waiting 30 minutes in line at the impound lot, Walters said a clerk informed him that the $200-plus bill had already been paid.

“There’s a lot of like-minded people who are looking out for each other. We are the City of Good Neighbors,” Walters said.

Tony Pecora, of Batavia, said he is willing to pay for damage to the steering column.

“My family is very compassionate. We do what we can. Here’s a woman trying to make a living, just one of the 99 percent in the country that needs help,” Pecora said. “She’s trying to make a living, and it’s great that people are coming forward. This is the Region of Good Neighbors.”

When Diana Alvira, of South Buffalo, heard that Sanders would need her car towed from the impound lot, she bought Sanders a year’s membership in the local AAA.

Thank you, Diana, for overcoming my own stereotypes about my own race. To me, "South Buffalo," like "South Boston" and "South, The," evokes white hoods and burning crosses- and there have been incidents of such conduct there within the past year. But they do not indict the whole community, which still has far more good than hood in it.

My faith in all of humanity may not be restored, but it just got a good-sized local boost. Let's go, Buffalo:)